This guide provides a landscape scan and needs assessment of the work being done at the intersection of climate and housing justice. While tremendous work is underway at the intersection of housing and climate justice, many challenges remain. This brief concludes with recommended investments in 1) technical assistance and research, 2) movement support, and 3) toolkits and popular education materials to unlock the potential of the work and ensure more healthy, stable, and resilient homes for EJ communities. This guide presents interviews with thirteen environmental justice (EJ) leaders, including three from “grasstops” organizations and ten from grassroots advocacy and coalition organizations, including two from the East Coast, one from the Midwest, five from the West Coast, one from the Mountain Region, and two from the South. EJ organizations are working on a wide range of programs and policies at the intersection of housing and climate justice, from working in coalitions to advocate for specific policies and programs to monitoring, outreach, and engagement around implementation. This brief highlights many examples of this work across the following categories: building decarbonization and healthy homes; accelerating energy transition and relieving energy burden; and neighborhood-level decarbonization and resilience.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on polluter accountability and new polls of Black voters and young Americans.

Voters across party lines support the recently introduced Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act. Voters support the Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act by a 66%-24% margin after reading a brief description of it. The bill is supported by more than four in five Democrats (84%), three in five independents (62%), and half of Republicans (50%).

Most young Americans care about addressing climate change in their own lives and careers. While few have heard about the American Climate Corps, a large majority are interested in it after learning about it. Four in five Americans aged 18-26 (81%) agree that climate change poses a serious threat to our future – including large majorities of young liberals (92%), young moderates (81%), and young conservatives (67%). Around two-thirds of young Americans (67%) agree that they “want to take more personal actions to address climate change,” and most are attracted to the idea of having a job that allows them to contribute to the cause. Only around one-quarter of young Americans (27%) say that they’ve heard of the American Climate Corps, including just 4% who say that they’ve heard “a lot” about it. After reading about it, around seven in ten (69%) say that they’re interested in serving in the American Climate Corps – including 22% who are “very interested” in the program.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new national polling on climate change as an issue priority for voters and new polling in Michigan about the state’s energy policies.

Michigan voters have much more positive attitudes toward the clean energy industry than the fossil fuel industry, and want the state to hold oil and gas companies more accountable for their pollution. Around four in five voters in the state have favorable attitudes about solar (81% favorable / 14% unfavorable) and wind (79% favorable / 17% unfavorable) as energy sources. Republicans in the state also have overwhelmingly positive attitudes about both energy sources, with around seven in ten Republicans saying that they feel favorably about solar (73% favorable / 21% unfavorable) and wind (70% favorable / 25% unfavorable). Around three-quarters of voters feel favorably about clean energy companies (73% favorable / 20% unfavorable), including three in five Republicans (61% favorable / 31% unfavorable). Meanwhile, only half of voters in the state have favorable attitudes about fossil fuel companies (50% favorable / 38% unfavorable). Most voters in the state (58%) say that oil and gas companies have a negative impact on air quality for Michigan communities, and around half also say that these fossil fuel companies are negatively impacting water quality (51%) and public health (48%) in Michigan.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including polling on support for the Inflation Reduction Act, plastic pollution regulation, solar energy policies, and concern about climate impacts.

Michigan’s future includes lower monthly energy costs, the freedom to live without pollution, and more good-paying jobs and a growing middle class. Michigan’s economy is surging, supercharged by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and a suite of nation-leading clean energy bills passed by the Michigan state government last November. Michigan now has more clean energy projects than any other state and is ranked fourth in the country for new clean energy jobs. Clean energy businesses, which are creating jobs and growing the state’s workforce, are the first to say it: They are planting their stakes in Michigan, largely thanks to strong climate policies. The latest analysis from 5 Lakes Energy (PDF) shows that the state’s climate legislation package, in tandem with the IRA, goes way beyond cutting climate pollution. It will create economy-wide change by saving Michigan families hundreds of dollars in energy bills, bringing more clean energy jobs and investments into the state, and protecting communities from the harmful effects of pollution.

Solar continues to be voters’ favorite source of energy, with most saying that it’s good for the economy and costs. Pro-solar arguments consistently win in head-to-head messaging tests against common criticisms about reliability, land use, and supply chains. 84% of voters support the construction of a utility-scale solar farm near their own community. 75% of voters agree that solar power is good for America’s economy. 74% of voters agree that increasing our use of solar power would save American families money. 74% of voters agree that their electric utility should get more of its electricity from solar power. 66% of voters agree that solar power creates good-paying jobs.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including lots of new polling on climate and the environment as issues in this year’s election, new polling of Latino voters, new polling about conservation in the states that touch the Mississippi River, and new polling about clean energy infrastructure siting in California.